Month: January 2017

My bridesmaids and I choreographed a dance for them to come dancing down the aisle to before I danced down the aisle. At the reception we did their dance together!
Song: Get Your Praise on By Kirk Franklin

It feels like division, anger, frustration, and opposition is every where. It feels like this intense feeling of hate or dislike is permeating everything from social media, TV, internet, billboards, and/or politics.

It’s time to reconsider to give up our Right to be Right. To let go of fighting every person or cause that you disagree with and listen for once to the other side. To stop throwing stones at everyone that you can’t see eye to eye with and love instead.

I have such a sweet tooth and I am always on the look out for healthy alternative treats that actually taste good! In this video I teach you how to make healthy Italian Ice Slushies that is good for you, no added sugar and will make your mouth dance.

If you have the technique you can do almost any necklace you see in the stores, online, and even on Pinterest. In this video you how to make this fabulous necklace I saw on Pinterest. So easy, so simple, and yet perfect for a plain, high neck shirt.

It is hard being the teacher. It is so much easier being a student. It looked easier from a student’s point a view kind of like parenting looks easier from a childless view point. You judge differently when you are on the other side. I believe that most if not all of us will become teachers some day whether it is to our children, people that look to use for wisdom/advice, as a coach, or in a classroom setting.

I have learned some very valuable lessons:

Micromanaging is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo bad! You crush the person’s spirit and remove their creativity. You make them in to “mini-me’s” God created them unique and special and when you micromanage you remove all that amazing stuff which has God placed on the inside of them. I am very glad that God put me under a leader that was a micro-manager years ago so that I would learn I don’t like it and I never want to treat another being that way.
For my interns each one has to do a community event where they ask God what the event is, who their audience is and how to go about getting resources for the event. A good number of times I wanted to jump in and make them do it a certain way. But God kept reminding me I am just the “coach” I have given them all the tools they need, now I just need to encourage and point in the right direction. What they do is up to them. And you know what IT TURNED OUT AMAZING. Better than if I would have jumped in and took over. You have to ask God when to step in and when to be a cheerleader. If you step in at the wrong time you will mess it up.

2. If they are not doing something you think they should be doing like an assignment or an activity then you probably explained it wrong or didn’t communicate it properly. I learned this by reading Spiritual Leadership by Huckabee but found it even more true as a teacher. I have found if I have an employee or student that isn’t doing something they should be doing, 99% of the time I didn’t explain it correctly and they did what they had interpreted me to say. You have to realize most of the time it is your fault, Teachers.
I don’t understand teachers who get excited when most of their class failed. WHAT?!? That is not a refection on the class that is a reflection on you. Or if you assigned something to your employee and they didn’t do it quit right most likely your explanation wasn’t very good.
I remember working in the engine room on the ships. My boss had taught me a little bit about rewiring things. So I noticed a problem and did what I had been told. When my boss came and saw my work he flipped out. I said “but that is how you taught me” in which he replied “I didn’t teach you that way. I would never do it that way.” You have to look and reexamine if you really explained it a 100% accurate or not. You as a boss or teacher will not always be the problem but most of the time your communication was probably lacking!

3. And Last: Your students or employees or whoever you are teaching are precious. They are God’s greatest treasure. You need to treat them as such even if they don’t treat you with respect or if they don’t believe in themselves. What you speak over them you can and will have lasting affects. Your words are life or death. You will either make them believe in themselves or they will believe they are the dumbest people on the planet. Regardless of what you think about them they are loved and treasured by God, their creator. They are valuable and priceless. I remember watching a video of a teacher who had a problem child, she would speak over him “You are smart, you are a good boy, . . .” etc. The child just laughed at her and told her everyone else said he was a bad boy and a problem including his other teachers and parents. But each time she would speak the same life giving words over him. Eventually he did change. He asked her one day how did she know he was a good kid. She said because people spoke over me that I was stupid and wouldn’t go far. I believed them for many years but one day I believed I was smart and could do whatever I set my mind to. I know all children are smart and good kids. Just by her words she changed that boys life. Our words are powerful. Be careful what you speak over those God has placed under you. They will have lasting affects. And EVERYONE is gifted you just have to dig a little harder in some than in others.

Being a teacher is not easy but if you do it God’s way the reward, the fruit, the whatever you call it is lasting. Yes you will have hard days. Yes you will have times you feel like the worst teacher in the world. But at the end of the day God’s opinion is the only one that matters and He thinks you are WONDERFUL!

One of my interns Jaxson had his community event yesterday. All interns are required to do an event by asking God what the event is, who the audience is and what resources they will need and how to get them. One month ago Jaxson told me that God said for him to feed pizza to the homeless/hungry on January 13. And so the journey began. A week before the event all Jaxson had was volunteers and the location to serve the people, but that didn’t stop him from putting up flyers and telling people to come and receive food. Jaxson had faith that even though he didn’t have any food at all he still trusted and believed God would supply.

Three days before the outreach Jaxson and I got together to discuss what needed to be done and pray. When we had our meeting there was still no food. I have to admit, though I have done many of outreaches for the Lord and God always came through in crazy amazing ways I was freaked out, though I never let Jaxson know I was “scured” aka scared! I didn’t know how God was going to do it and it is so different being on this side where I am just the coach instead of the player. My job was to train and encourage to trust God no matter what.

We prayed and God impressed on our hearts to ask the food banks in town if they wanted to partner with the event and donate any food. Then God impressed on Jaxson’s heart to put it on facebook to ask if any one would be willing to give towards this event. Food and money came in from every where. It felt like a flood gate had been open and people and businesses were giving left and right.

On Thursday Jaxson went shopping with the money that was given to him to buy the main supplies needed. It is hard knowing what to buy and how much when you don’t know how many are coming and people have promised food but you don’t know the exact quantity. But once again Jaxson stepped out in faith and bought what he thought was best.

He went to one bakery store to buy bagels. As he went to pay for them the Lord impressed on his heart to tell the cashier why he was buying the bagels. When she found out it was for an outreach she said “Wait a minute” And pulled out some money and told Jaxson that a man had came to the store and gave her 20 dollars and to give that money to the next person that was purchasing food for a feeding outreach. WHAT SERIOUSLY JESUS! Like you put on someones heart to leave money for Jaxson, who we will never meet and it paid for everything he was buying there. GOD YOU ARE SO AMAZING.

On Thursday the Lord gave a passage where a widow sold oil to pay her debtors and Elisha told her there would be enough left over to live on. God showed me that he would supply for the event and have leftovers. And leftovers we did have. There was so much food that it blessed the people coming in to eat at the location and take home and the volunteers. God is not just a God of enough but God of abundance.

The day of the event we had a good turn out. People loved the pizza. There was a lady who came in at the last minute and said “I have been hearing about this pizza all day. Everyone who came into the store said it was so good and I needed to go get some.” There was a young father who was so grateful and so blessed by the kindness he received that He said something like this was the nicest thing anyone has ever done. I said no you can’t be serious he interjected and said Yes I am very serious. There was another young man that stayed nearly the whole time. At times I would watch him just soaking in the atmosphere and music and the love that was in that room. It’s like he had never experienced something like that before. Then there was a mom with two little ones, we found out it was her birthday and was able to all sing to her. I know there are so many stories but these are the ones God really pointed out to me.

After it was all said and done I went to God and he gave me the scripture: In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. -James 2:17-18

The Lord spoke and said that He was so well pleased with Jaxson and his faith. And his faith was brought out by his deeds. That he trusted God from the beginning and he WORKED HARD. I mean non stop that last week. He continued to seek God and would not ask for food or move forward in the natural until God gave him the green light and when the Lord did it was on.

Faith is a risk. It is always a risk. You can learn that in this story where Jaxson had no food and no guarantee or money to produce results in himself. But God said it, so he believed it and stepped out. If you walk away from this story with any lesson walk away knowing that Faith isn’t easy it is always a risk but it is worth it. ALWAYS WORTH it in the end.

Thank you everyone who gave and partnered with Jaxson to do God’s will. Thank you for being God’s hands and feet in this whether you gave of food, money, or time, you were a true blessing!!!

Well done Jaxson. I could not be any prouder! You have a giant like faith. May it grow and follow you where ever you go!

Thank you Jesus once again for showing how amazing you are if we just obey and step out in Faith. You are truly the hero and supplier of all that happened.

In this video I talk about how fun and exciting it is. How it was never meant to be boring or shameful. That within God’s boundary it is AMAZING. But what happens when we it outside of God’s design and how does that affect us?

And Yet even in our biggest mistakes there is always HOPE for God’s redemption!!!

​Things that make you go hm . . . . My interns and I are reading George Muellers autobiography and it has really convicted us about our prayer lives.

I have come to realize through our study that our prayer life: how we pray and what we pray is a reflection of how we see and know God. If we believe it he is a kind, generous, loving Father. Then it will be easier to ask God for things. If we see him as forgiving and merciful then when we mess up it will be easier to go to him and repent and know He will accept us with open arms.

But if we see God as angry, judgemental, unmerciful, not generous or anything else our prayers will be hindered by that perception.

So I ask you today how do you view God (good or bad) and how does that affect how you pray to God. This isn’t a quick thought kind of answer. Dig a little deeper and see if some view you have of God is hindering you from seeking God in a certain way. YOu may be surprised what the answer is.

A Winter Wonderland is beautiful but only if we don’t pick it apart and talk about all the things we dislike about it. Same with being a follower of Christ, we are beautiful and a new creation in Him but only if we don’t allow ourselves, others, or the enemy to pick us apart and tell us we are not good enough.

If you have been feeling like you are not good enough because of your faults or sin or even because of your crazy past let me encourage you what God says about you. Don’t let anything stop you from doing what Christ is putting on your heart to do. He loves you, adores you, and has a great plan for you: don’t let anything or any body make you feel like you can’t move forward in what God has for you!

My Books for Sale

One Yes is an 11 year journey of Dess's Missionary adventures. From sailing to the high seas on World War II ships to reaching out to the poorest of the poor in what was known as the number one worst place to live in America. Follow Dess as she takes you on a journey of a life time all because she gave God her "One Yes".
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One Yes

God and Me is a 131 devotions that were lessons from Dess's most intimate time with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Come with Dess as she gives you a look into what the secret place of God is like. You will find lessons on worth, God's love, spiritual warfare, and more.
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God and Me